Harrisburg – As of mid-November, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has confirmed more positive cases of chronic wasting disease in deer than at the same time last year.
But there’s a silver lining.
While the 60 positives as of Nov. 18 outpaced the 52 confirmed cases from the same date in 2019, there have yet to be any positive samples in the Enhanced Surveillance Units – those areas within a larger Disease Management Area where an infected deer, wild or captive, has been confirmed prior to the current deer season. The agency offered special CWD Deer Management Assistance Program permits for the ESUs to garner more samples as a means to gain a better understanding the extent of infection and disease prevalence where isolated cases have been found.
“The fact that we haven’t found any in those areas is good news,” said Bob Frye, the agency’s CWD communications specialist. “It would be ideal to keep it at zero, but it’s still early.”
Last year there were 204 CWD positives in free-ranging deer in the state, and even though preliminary results are outpacing 2019, Frye said more will be known after the statewide two-week deer season when the vast majority of samples comes in.
Still, there are several differences surfacing in the 2020 sampling.
From Sept. 19 to mid-November, 2,922 deer have been tested for CWD, including 1,803 samples from head collection bins. By the same time last year, the figures were higher with 3,703 deer tested (2,478 from head collection bins). For the year to date (mid-November), 5,124 samples were collected in 2020, compared to 5,649 at the same time last year.
Andrea Korman, the game commission’s CWD biologist, said there are several factors why positives are up this year even though samples are less prior to the two-week rifle season.
Warmer weather conditions during parts of the season may have made hunters less inclined to harvest a deer during those times, she said, and the COVID-19 crisis may have kept people taking advantage of work opportunities, preventing them from going hunting.
Also, people who have been in CWD areas for a while tend to be more apathetic and therefore may be less likely to submit a sample, or hunters may even decide to hunt outside a DMA, Korman added.
Lastly, Korman said the agency has received fewer samples from roadkilled deer this year because more people are staying home due to COVID restrictions, reducing the frequency of deer-vehicle collisions. Fewer samples generated by roadkills mean hunter-provided samples are especially important, and the agency is counting on the rifle season to make up the balance.
Still, as of mid-November the agency had 1,054 samples awaiting testing.
“It is still early in the season so I don’t think there is cause for concern. With the Saturday opener and additional Sunday opportunity this year, it’s hard to say what our final numbers might be,” Korman said, prior to the start of the rifle season.
Positive samples from head collection bins as of mid-November were also down this year, 17 compared to 28 at the same time in 2019. It’s unclear as of now what the reason is, but warm weather during much of the fall archery season forced PGC staff to collect heads deposited in bins more frequently before they deteriorated.
Korman said collection bins are checked as often as every other day when the weather is warm, and is a sample is unsuitable for testing the hunter will be notified and given the option of obtaining a replacement tag.
- This story originally appeared in PA Outdoor News
